Door locking mechanism



Nov. 7, 1961 s. v. BARSDlTlS DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed July 7, 1958FIG. 3

INVENTOR. STANLE Y \LBARSDITIS I8 FIG. 2

FIG. 6

FIG. 5

atent 3,307,332 Patented New. 7, 1961 3,097,332 DOSR LOCKTNG MECHANISMStanley V. Barsditis, 918 Brushton Ave, Pittsburgh 21, Pa; Edward A.Barsditis, adtrator of said Stanley V. Barsditis, deceased Filed July 7,1958, Ser. No. 746,887 3 Claims. (Cl. 70-92) This invention pertains ingeneral to locks for doors of public buildings and, more specifically,to a simplified locking mechanism which automatically locks the doorwhen moving into closed position but may be adjusted for non-operationduring successive opening and closing movements.

The locking mechanism is primarily designed for concealed mountingwithin the stile of a metal door, but where acceptable may be mounted inexposed position upon a wooden or metal door. As in all doors for publicbuildings the doors are provided with an operating mechanism upon theinner face of the door which unlocks and opens the door by merelypushing against the operating mechanism. The locking mechanism may bemanually locked and unlocked from the outer face of the door withoutinterfering with the functioning of the operating mechanism on the innerface of the door.

An object of the invention is to provide a door locking mechanism formounting in a door stile which normally automatically locks the doorupon movement into closed position and may be manually unlocked fromeither the inner or outer face of the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door locking mechanism,as described, in which the door mechanism may be preset to permit freeopening and closing of the door without operation of the lockingmechanism.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following disclosureof the invention and the drawings forming a part thereof,'wherein:

FIG. 1 shows in front elevation a portion of a door frame and a pair ofswinging doors embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view taken on lines II -II of FIG. 1 showingdetails of construction of the door locking mechanism;

FIG. 3 shows in side elevation the upper portion of the door lockingmechanism;

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the top of the door locking mechanism;

FIG. 5 shows a view similar to FIG. 3 with the keeper of the mechanismengaged with the door jamb locking the door in closed position;

FIG. 6 shows a section taken on lines VI-Vl of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 shows means for locking the mechanism out of operating position.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the door frame 1 of anysuitable design, pivotally supports a pair of doors 2, each of which isequipped with the door locking mechanism mounted in the door stiles 3.Within each stile 3 is mounted the rod 4 for vertical reciprocalmovement. Inwardly from the upper end of rod 4 is a stop member 5 heldin fixed relation to the stile 3 by any suitable means. Member 5positions rod 4 laterally within the stile 3. Integral with rod 4 is anenlargement 6 moving freely through suitable openings in member 5.

Beneath member 5 is an adjustable member 7 engaging member 5 to limitupward movement of rod 4. Connected to the top of rod 4 is a keeperplate 55 disposed within stile 3 and having a portion 9 thereonextending outwardly of the stile through slotted opening 10 on the innerface of the stile for engagement with the keeper latch plate member 11.A slotted opening :12 in portion 9 receives the member 11 of the keeperlatch member. Keeper plate extension 9 through engagement with the base13 of slot 10 serves to restrict vertical downward movement of rod 4.Adjacent the top of stile 3 is a spring loaded release member 14 havinga portion thereof extending outwardly of the stile and an offset portion15. The inner end of member 14 is recessed to receive a spring 14a. Oneside of keeper plate 8 has a recessed portion 16 for receiving theportion 15 and a portion 17 for overlapping portion 15. Member 14 isguided in its movement transversely of stile 3 by the guide plate 18having a flange 19 received in a longitudinally extending slot 20 ofmember 14. Said guide plate being retained in position by bracket 21secured to said stile 3. A wearplate 22 is mounted upon member 14 tooverlie the top thereof and an adjacent side of portion 15. The lowerend of rod 4 is guided in its Vertical reciprocal movement by a member23 secured within the stile 3 and having suitable openings therein forreception of rod 4.

Vertical reciprocation of rod '4 is obtained by operation of the lockmember 24 or handle members 25 and 25a connected by rod 25b forming acrash bar. The lock member 24 comprises a closed faced member carrying alock 26 and pivotally mounted in a housing 27. Attached to member 24 arefingers 28 which lie on opposite sides of rod 4 for engagement with themember 29 secured thereto to lift rod 4 as the lock member 24 is pulleddownwardly to unlock the door 2 from the outer face thereof. A suitablehandle member 30 is mounted on the outer face of the door stile 3, foropening the door. On the inner face 3a of the door stile 3 is a suitablehousing member 31 having a base 32 secured to the door stile. A casing33 within housing base 32 registers with a slotted opening in theadjacent stile face 3a. Within the casing 33 is a pivot pin 34 uponwhich is mounted door handle member 25. A similar member 25a ispivotally mounted on the opposite stile of the door and connected tomember 25' by the bar 25b forming the crash bar. The head of member 25is enclosed by a yoke 35 which is connected therewith and mounted onsaid pin 34. The yoke arms extend inwardly of the adjacent stile forengagement with a stop member 36 secured to rod 4. Yoke 35 is ofsubstantially inverted U-shape and receives between the spacedarmsthereof the coils 37 of a U-shaped torsion spring 37. Extendingoutwardly from member 25 is a portion 38 to raise the yoke 35 upondownward rotation of member 25. The member 25 has one leg 39 of spring37 embedded therein and the opposite spring leg 40 slidably engagesbeneath the cover 41 of casing 33 retaining the spring in operatingposition. A pin 42 extends transversely of casing 33 and has mountedthereon a latch member 43 which is held in raised position by a U-shaped spring 44 whose arms embrace the member 43. A stop 45 is providedfor the latch 43 when rotated downward upon 42. Such stop may be in theform of a pin 45 disposed transversely of casing 33. The pin 42 may behollow and rotatably mounted in casing 33', with the inner diameter ofthe pin 42 hexagonal in shape. A suitable aperture 42a in the housing 31permits insertion of a hexagonally shafted key for rotation of member 43as hereinafter described. Secured to the top member of door jamb 1, inposition to be engaged by the stile 3 of each door 2. when moved intoclosed position, is a keeper latch member of substantially hollowrectangular shape. The keeper latch member has a side wall 46 forengagement with the door stile 3. Suitable slotted openings in side wall46 receive the keeper plate extension 9. The keeper latch member iscompleted by an opposite side wall 47 and connecting end walls 48. Abottom wall 49 completes the keeper latch member and serves to receivefasteners 50 for attachment to the door jamb. Secured to bottom wall '49and extending upwardly therefrom is the keeper latch member 11.

Referring now to the operation of the door lock, the mechanism whenpositioned as shown in FIG. 2 is unlocked ready for opening of the door,with the rod 4 disposed wholly within the door stile 3. The lockoperating member 24 is positioned to place the lock mechanism in thisposition so that an outward pull on handle 30 opens the door.

If the door is to be locked again, upon closing, pushing on handle 30causes door stile 3 to engage the keeper latch wall 46 and move thelocking member 14 inward of the stile as the door moves into closedposition. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, inward movement of member 14displaces portion 15 thereof from beneath portion 17 of keeper 8permitting rod 4- to drop by ,ravity. Such movement of the rod carrieskeeper 8 downward until the extension 9 thereof engages slot 12 thereinwith tongue 11 (FIG. 5 and permits the bottom of rod 4 to enter asuitable registering opening in the threshold plate beneath the doorstile 3. The dor is now in locked position.

If the door is to be opened from the outside, a key 24a is inserted inmember 24 and upon suitable manipulation of the key the member 24 isreleased for open ing outwardly and downwardly. Such movement of member24 causes arm 28 thereon to engage stop 29 and raises rod 4 to theposition shown in FIG. 2. Such movement of rod 4 raises keeper 8 andportion 9 upwardly out of engagement with tongue 11 permitting the doorto be opened. Since keeper 8 is now disposed above member 14, opening ofdoor 2 carries member 14 away from wall 46 of the keeper latch memberand the spring 14a under compression slides member 14 outwardly untilportion 15 engages beneath the keeper portion 17 and retains it inelevated position. The door mechanism will, however, return to lockingposition when the door is again closed causing member 14 to moveinwardly of the door stile 3 to drop keeper 8 and rod 4 by gravity.

When the door is in locked position and it is to be opened from theinside, merely pushing downwardly and outwardly on crash bar member 25bopens the door. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, downward movement of handle25 causes rotation thereof on pin 34, lifting extension 38 to raise yokearm 35 into engagement with stop 36 on rod 4 and to raise rod 4 andkeeper 8 out of engagement with keeper plate tongue 11. When the door isagain returned to closed position, the mechanism returns to lockingposition as previously described.

It is customaly in public buildings, stores and schools to unlock thedoors during certain hours and to retain the door locking mechanism inunlocked position during such hours. The usual practice is for thecustodian of the building to lock the doors in closed position after acertain time to prevent access to the interior of the building except byuse of a key. The mechanism of the invention can be adapted to thisprocedure at any time, as hereinafter described.

To set the door locking mechanism in fixed unlocked position, the crashbar 25b and member -25 are pressed downwardly to unlocking position asshown by dotted lines in FIGS. 2 and 7 of the drawings. Upon referenceto FIG. 7 it will be noted that bar and member 25 when fully depressedraises yoke 35 into a position such that latch 43 when rotateddownwardly engages the web of the inverted U-shaped yoke 35 and retainsthe yoke in elevated position against the tension in spring 37. Latch 43is normally held in elevated position by engagement with spring 44 andhandle 25 when released is normally returned to elevated position bytorsion spring arm 39. When, however, latch 43 is engaged with yoke 35,the spring is prevented from returning members 25 and 25a to uprightposition and the spring pressure serves to retain the yoke and latch inengagement until the crash bar is again held in fully depressed positionand latch 43 is rotated free of the yoke 35 by means of the key insertedthrough the aperture 42a in housing 31.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the door lockingmechanism as described meets all the requirements for use on doors forpublic buildings and particularly schools and other buildings wherelarge groups of people assemble. The doors can always be opened from theinside by pushing on handle 25, and can always be opened from theoutside, by authorized persons, through use of the key 24a. Furthermore,the locking mechanism may be selectively secured into a positionpermitting free operation of opening and closing the doors from eitherside without operation of the looking mechanism. When the mechanism isfixed in unlocked position, it cannot be accidentally or intentionallyreleased from such position without use of thespecial key in the handsof authorized persons.

It is to be understood that the specific form of the invention, asdisclosed, is for purposes of illustration and not limitation. Manyobvious changes and substitutions of mechanical equivalents will beapparent to persons skilled in the art and I do not intend to be boundby the specific details of disclosure, except as made necessary by thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a door locking mechanism, in combination, a rod for mountingwithin a door for vertical reciprocation relative thereto, a keepermounted on one end of the rod and extending laterally therefrom forvertical gravitational movement into engagement with a latch platemember releasably engaging an adjacent face of the door, said rod whenengaging the keeper at one end thereon with the latch plate memberhaving its opposite end portion engaging with a fixed support disposedbelow the'horizontal plane of the bottom of the door, a rod operatingmember pivotally mounted on the outer face of the door and having a keyoperated lock retaining the member in parallel relation to the door, anarm on said member extending inwardly of the door for movementlongitudinally of the rod when the member is moved out of parallelrelation to the door, a first stop fixed on the said rod for engagementby said operating member arm for imparting vertical upward movement tosaid rod, a member pivotally mounted on the opposite inner face of thedoor for movement toward and away from the door, a yoke on said lattermember extending inwardly of the door for movement longitudinally of therod upon pivotal movement of the member toward the door, a spring onsaid door resisting pivotal movement of the member toward said door, asecond stop fixed on said rod for engagement by said moving yoke toimpart vertical upward movement to said rod, a horizontally disposedspring loaded member slidably mounted on said door for reciprocalmovement transversely of the door and projecting outwardly from the doorin one direction of movement thereof for engagement with the said latchplate, said spring loaded member when moving in one direction to projectoutwardly of the door having an intermediate portion slidably en gagingbeneath said keeper to retain the keeper against gravitational movementinto engagement with said latch plate member and when moved in theopposite direction releasing said keeper for vertical gravitationalmovement into engagement with the latch plate member.

2. The door locking mechanism as defined in claim 1, wherein saidpivotally mounted member on the inner face of the door has its pivotalsupport within a housing fixed relative to the inner face of said door,and a latch member pivotally mounted within said housing is selectivelymoveable into engagement with the yoke of said pivotal member when saidrod is raised by the yoke to retain the yoke in engagement with saidadjacent stop on the rod to secure the rod in raised door unlockingposition.

3. In a metal door having at least one hollow door stile extending fromtop to bottom of the door, a latch plate member mounted adjacent saiddoor for engagement by said door stile when the door is in closedposition, a rod disposed within said hollow stile and extendinglongitudinally thereof, a keeper mounted on the upper end of said rodand projecting outwardly from one face of the stile for longitudinalvertical movement relative thereto, means on said keeper and latch platemember for engagement as the rod is moved in one direction longitudinalof the stile, a spring loaded member disposed transversely of said stilefor slidable movement into and out of the path of movement of saidkeeper, said spring loaded member normally projecting outwardly throughone side of the stile for engagement with the latch plate member andmoved inwardly of the stile against said spring through said engagement,said springloaded member having a portion underlying the keeper when themember extends outwardly through the stile, said spring-loaded memberportion moving inwardly free of said keeper when the member is movedinwardly of the stile, a stop member fixed to said rod intermediate itslength, a housing mounted on said stile below said projecting portion ofsaid spring loaded member, a door handle pivotally mounted in saidhousing and having a yoke portion thereof above said pivot projectingthrough the adjacent stile wall and below said stop member, saidprojecting yoke portion engaging said rod stop member upon rotation ofthe handle towards the door stile to raise the said keeper above theplane of the spring loaded member for retention of the keeper inelevated position when the spring loaded member is projecting outwardlyof the door stile upon opening of the door, said door handle beingengaged by a spring depending below said housing for constantly urgingthe lower portion of the handle away from the door stile and said handleyoke portion away from said rod stop member, latch means pivotallymounted Within said housing means normally holding the latch meansagainst rotation and means detachably connected with said latch meansfor moving same into and out of engagement with said handle yoke, saidlatch means being selectively rotatable into engagement with said yokeonly after the handle is fully depressed to raise said keeper out ofengagement with said latch plate independently of opening and closing ofsaid door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,130,266 Gold Mar. 2, 1915 1,140,343 Arens May 18, 1915 1,518,187 DyerDec. 9, 1924 2,201,963 Wartian May 21, 1940 2,202,075 Yoe May 28, 19402,781,218 Jewett Feb. 12, 1957 2,824,440 Jewett et al. Feb. 25, 19582,887,336 Meyer May 19, 1959 2,910,857 Muessel Nov. 3, 1959 FOREIGNPATENTS 519,937 Great Britain Apr. 10, 1940 580,503 Great Britain Sept.10, 1946

